NBA expected to close loophole that caused officiating glitch
Jon Saraceno, USA TODAY
FEB 16
PHOENIX — Whistles for traveling, long a traditional mode of transportation among some cagy NBA players, are up this season. Meanwhile, the league's forbearance regarding what it says is a lack of respect for the game is down, leaving technical fouls on the rise.
But neither trend might have the impact of last week's move by the league toward closing a gaping, and embarrassing, loophole in its rules that might play a role in the Boston Celtics losing homecourt advantage for the playoffs.
On Dec. 30 in Portland, the Trail Blazers inadvertently had six players on the floor against the defending champions. With 10.1 seconds left in the first half, the Celtics frantically tried to cover up defensively on an in-bounds play, but the Trail Blazers' Travis Outlaw broke free and dunked off a Greg Oden pass. Oden wasn't supposed to be on the court.
The points counted. The Celtics went berserk. However, crew chief Mike Callahan, with referees Rodney Mott and Zach Zarba, could not disallow the points because it was a non-correctable call. Portland was assessed a technical foul and the Celtics ended up with one point in return.
Boston led 45-40 at halftime, but the Celtics lost their cool, their momentum and the game 91-86.
The egregious error prompted immediate angst amongst league elders in New York. Ron Johnson, senior vice president of referee operations, recalled that he exclaimed, "How the hell did that happen?"
Joel Litvin, league president with responsibility over referee operations, couldn't believe the gaffe and its unintended outcome.
"I was just incredulous," Litvin said. "I said, 'This can't be.' It's amazing no one picked it up."
Johnson, still learning the finer points of NBA officiating after a career in the military, said, "We went into a big drill here in the office with Joel saying, 'What are we going to do about it? That can't happen.' A major concern expressed by broadcasters who (watched) was, 'Hell, let's implement that as an offensive strategy and get two for one.' "
Celtics guard Ray Allen still is steamed.
"It was a disgrace — total disgrace," he said. "We got penalized for their mistake."
As a result, the league's competition committee approved a recommendation to the Board of Governors on Friday that will change the rule in the upcoming weeks.
The revised rule will allow the non-offending team to accept the result of the play and shoot a technical foul or decline the play's outcome and shoot a technical, with the offending team, in essence, creating a "do-over." In other words, the Celtics would have been able to disallow the Trail Blazers' points and shoot a technical, followed by Portland inbounding.
In the aftermath of the Tim Donaghy referee gambling scandal last year, NBA commissioner David Stern hired Johnson, an Army general, to improve consistency among game officials, enforce work rules and compliance policies and create a more harmonious working atmosphere.
The league recently gave its 61 game officials mid-season reviews.
"They might be the most-scrutinized group in the NBA — players, coaches management, everybody," says TNT analyst Doug Collins, a former player and coach. "They're being evaluated on every call. I think they do an incredible job. I haven't noticed any appreciable difference this year."
Hall of Famer Clyde Drexler has. The former All-Star guard, now a Houston Rockets TV analyst, has noticed a "little bit more accountability."
"Referees are a little more conversational," he said. "If they make a bad call, they might come over and say, 'You know, I might have missed that one.' I haven't seen that very much in the past."
But last week, the NBA fined Cleveland Cavaliers coach Mike Brown $25,000 for alleging that referee Joey Crawford made a predetermined "make-up" call against LeBron James during a loss to the Indiana Pacers.
"Referees are put in a tough spot," Brown said. "They're human. I understand and respect that. They're going to make mistakes."
Errors that their bosses are closing observing.
The NBA generally does not announce disciplinary action, but Johnson said he did suspend a veteran referee for two games this season because of failure to adhere to policy. He would not name the referee.
"We have guys who think they can say, 'Well, I hear you, but I'm not going to do that,' " Johnson said. "We had a situation where we had to look one of those guys in the eyes and say, 'You can't do that, so you're not going to referee.' I'm talking about this notion where fans believe there are old-school referees who will call the game the way they want to, regardless of what we tell them."
Points of emphasis for this season from Stern included cracking down on cursing and stricter enforcement of traveling and foul violations.
Through 763 games as of Feb. 8, officials have whistled 614 technical fouls, leaving them on pace for 989. There were 901 last season. This season 184 players have been "teed up," plus 43 coaches and assistants.
Rasheed Wallace, the Detroit Pistons' tempestuous power forward, leads with 13 technicals; he had 12 last season. The league mandates a one-game suspension following technical No. 16.
Some of the better teams have been the leading offenders — Denver (41), Boston (39), Phoenix (35) and New Orleans (32).
Hornets All-Star guard Chris Paul, considered one of the most respectful players in the league, got the heave-ho from a game this season. But when asked about what transpired, he said, "They fine people around for talking about the referees. I don't want to talk about that."
Sometimes, the additional consternation derives from interpretation of the rules. "The rules have changed practically every year since I've been in the NBA," Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade said. "It's hard to understand what is (a violation) and what isn't even for the refs."
However, the NBA also acknowledges that some of the technicals were inappropriate. As a result, some were rescinded.
"Whenever you put an emphasis on something — respect for the game, traveling or fouls — you're going to get some overreaction," said Bernie Fryer, vice president and director of officials. "A lot of times referees, in their game reports, will say, 'I was a little quick (with the whistle).' Any time you're on high alert, you're going to get some of that."
Although the NBA would not supply numerical comparisons from a year ago, players and coaches said traveling is being whistled more frequently. So are fouls because, as Stern said, "We like the state of the game, we like the openness, we like the enforcements and the way the game looks."
More rigorous officiating has led to an increase in scoring. Several players, including James, Wade and Allen, said the game "definitely is being called a lot tighter than it (has been) in the past," James said. "I think they're trying to crack down."
Foul calls, Allen said, "are a lot more nit-picky."
Several players said referees were more willing to engage in constructive dialogue over debatable calls, although Boston forward Kevin Garnett said he has noticed a generational difference.
"I can definitely say the younger refs have an attitude or a persona," Garnett said. "The attitude is a bit edgy."
Topic: NBA rule change: Concerning the 6 Blazers on the court (Read 3921 times)